


pitch black (i'm on the opposite side of the fence)

by americanboyband



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: I dont know how to tag, M/M, Minor Violence, anways, any ship after tyrus is in the background, buffy meddles in tj's love life, enjoy this self indulgent baseball player!tj au, he plays volleyball basketball and baseball, in later chapters probably, since apparently i cant get over 3x8, slowburn, thank u for ur time, these tags are a whole mess, this has been in my drafts forever and im finally ready to work on it, tj is a 3 season athlete because i said so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 10:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19316482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanboyband/pseuds/americanboyband
Summary: TJ watched carefully as the boy parallel to him trudged begrudgingly up to bat, eyes narrowing at the sight of his baggy baseball uniform that draped unflatteringly over his skinny body, the very same uniform that clung to TJ’s body underneath the hot mid-afternoon sun. The boy couldn’t have been any younger than TJ, despite his doe eyes and baby-face that made him look much younger than the age of nine. The sheer size of the baseball field Grant High was letting little league use seemed as if it could swallow him whole. Who knows? Maybe it would.OR;TJ met Cyrus on the Grant High baseball field, became his best friend on the Grant High baseball field, and eventually realizes he just so happened to fall for him somewhere along the way (on the Grant High baseball field).





	pitch black (i'm on the opposite side of the fence)

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first andi mack fic and it's unbeta'd so bear with me! i love these two more than anything n i rly don't want to see them go so im lowkey writing this to cope. yall know how it is. anyways, enjoy!

_TJ watched carefully as the boy parallel to him trudged begrudgingly up to bat, eyes narrowing at the sight of his baggy baseball uniform that draped unflatteringly over his skinny body, the very same uniform that clung to TJ’s body underneath the hot mid-afternoon sun. The boy couldn’t have been any younger than TJ, despite his doe eyes and baby-face that made him look much younger than the age of nine. The sheer size of the baseball field Grant High was letting little league use seemed as if it could swallow him whole. Who knows? Maybe it would._

_TJ gripped the ball tightly against his mitt, shaking the thought from his head and not taking his eyes off of the boy opposite to him. He looked...nervous. TJ could definitely tell that this was one of his first days practicing with the team. For one, TJ didn’t recognize the brunet at all, and two, he looked like he had no idea what he was doing._

_In the distance, TJ heard his coach blow the whistle. He retracted his hand holding the ball._

_Time seemed to slow down before TJ’s eyes as the ball slipped from his grip, spiraling towards the other boy. His brown doe eyes only got wider, bat visibly shaking in his hands. He made no effort to swing._

_Before TJ knew it, and before the boy himself knew it, the ball collided with his mouth and knocked him to the ground. TJ rushed forward towards the smaller boy as guilt flooded through his body._

_He leaned down in front of him, observing the blood that was trickling from the other boy’s mouth. “Are you okay?”_

_The boy opened his eyes and grinned at TJ, front tooth missing but not a care in the world. “I’m peachy, now I won’t have to play baseball ever again.”_

A whistle blew.

“Kippen!” his coach yelled, “Eyes on the batter, I don’t have a damn bit of time for your day-dreamin'!”

TJ scoffed at his coach, but a fond smile was plastered on his lips at the memory. He scraped his cleats against the mound of the very same field from his memory. Same position. Same game. Same TJ.

Except it wasn’t the same, TJ had aged about 7 years, was no longer four-foot-ten, and the boy across from was not the one from his memory.

No, the boy from his memory stood proudly on the bleachers, a sign that adorned TJ’s name in big, bright colors held tightly in his hands.

“You got this, Teej!” Cyrus screamed, far louder than anyone else in the crowd, followed promptly by Buffy’s ever encouraging words: _“Destroy him, Kippen!”_

TJ smiled to himself as his friends made fools of themselves, turning his attention back to the game at hand. All he had to do was get the player across from him out and they’d win the game. Just three strikes away from making it to State.

He took a deep breath and swung.

_“Strike one!”_

The umpire threw the ball to the catcher, who tossed it back to TJ. He pitched.

_“Strike two!”_

The ball ended up back in TJ’s hands once more. Sweat gathered above his brow, and he could feel the midday sun beaming down on the top of his head. _Don’t blow this, Kippen_ , he thought to himself, gripping the ball tighter between his hand and the mitt.

He took one last deep breath as he let the ball slip through his fingers.

_“Strike three, you’re out!”_

The crowd erupted in cheers, and before TJ knew it, he was being swept up and carried by his teammates. He smiled brightly as they chanted his name, but the praise didn’t stop him from searching for one particular face in the crowd.

He spotted Cyrus and eagerly untangled himself from his teammates, bounding towards the other boy.

“You won!” Cyrus said, holding his arms out for a hug.

“I won!” TJ agreed, letting himself be wrapped in Cyrus’ embrace. He rested his head atop of Cyrus’ hair and closed his eyes.

“You wanna know what I was thinking about while I was on the pitch?” he said.

“Ah, yes.” Cyrus began, his tone dripping with sarcasm, “Please indulge me on what you were thinking about while playing baseball.”

“I was thinking about the day we met,” TJ answered, ignoring Cyrus’ snarky remark.

Cyrus unstuck himself from TJ’s sweaty body and looked at the taller boy, smirk quickly changing into the dopey smile TJ adored so much.

“Yeah?” he said, an obvious change of tone in his voice.

“Yeah,” TJ replied, smile not wavering from his face.

“God, that day was such a mess.” Cyrus huffed, playfully pushing at TJ’s chest. “Why were you even thinking about it?”

“Because it’s the day I met my best friend,” TJ started. “You’re like my lucky charm, Underdog. What can I say?”

Cyrus didn’t reply, pulling TJ in for their second hug of the night. TJ let himself melt into it once again, the smell of Cyrus’ shampoo and cologne filling his nose.

He inhaled.

TJ’s eyes shot open, thankful that Cyrus was too caught up in the moment to realize what he had just done. _What the hell? Why did I do that?_ He silently panicked. His heart was pounding a mile a minute, faster than it ever had at the end of an exhilarating game. Suddenly, he was hyper-aware of everything he felt at that very moment. His hands shook slightly from where they were wrapped around Cyrus’ back, and his whole body felt jittery, almost as if he had touched a livewire.

Despite his brain screaming _no! Not under any circumstances will you do it again!_ TJ finds himself inhaling once more, the scent of what’s purely and entirely Cyrus flooding his veins and making his entire body feel comfortably warm.

Oh. _Oh_.

TJ’s eyes flicker away from where they were fixed on Cyrus’ head, immediately locking with the very knowing eyes of none other than Buffy Driscoll.

_God, he’s so fucked._

 

___

 

“TJ Kippen, you are _so_ fucked!” Buffy whisper-yells, cornering him at the Spoon while his teammates and the majority of the junior class celebrated Grant High’s big win. “I cannot _believe_ you like Cyrus!”

“Do you mind quieting down?!” TJ snapped, “I _just_ figured out that I like him, I’m not exactly sure if I’m ready for our entire class to know!”

“I don’t know how it took me so long to realize,” Buffy continued. “I mean, looking back on it now it was so obvious! Who just smells their best friend’s hair in the middle of a crowded baseball field?!”

TJ stares at her, mouth agape and ready to say something, but she already has him beat.

“More _importantly_ , how did you not know you liked him?” Buffy asks him pointedly, eyes narrowing. “I mean, if I were in love with my best friend I think I’d be aware of it.”

“I am not in love with him!” TJ starts, “I don’t know, okay? We’ve been friends since we were _nine_ , it’s always been like this for me. I just didn’t realize what it meant until now.”

The look on Buffy’s face softens and she places a hand on one of his slumped shoulders, “Oh, TJ.” she sighs, “You are _such_ a disaster gay.”

“I know.” TJ groans, “What now?”

“What do you mean what now?” Buffy shoves his shoulder slightly, grinning almost mischievously. TJ has a bad feeling about this.

“Now, we work on getting you your man.”

**Author's Note:**

> title and name of the chapter are both from cupid by ryan beatty!
> 
>  
> 
> talk to me on tumblr: americanboyband.tumblr.com


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